Risk and protective factors associated with postnatal depression in Mexican adolescents

Abstract

We explored factors associated with postnatal depression and further evaluated whether any of these risk and protective factors are specific for adolescent mothers. Data concerning depression levels, family and individual factors were collected in a cross-sectional study which surveyed 298 women in Monterrey, N.L., Mexico. Mean maternal age was 24.64 years, and 27.18% of the mothers were between 14 and 19 years old. Prevalence of postnatal depression was higher in adolescents (16.05%) than in adult mothers (14.29%) but, on average, this difference was not significant. The association between individual factors and postnatal depression for both adult and adolescent mothers was explored. Our results revealed that social support is significantly associated with less possibility of postnatal depression in both groups, and that this effect is stronger for adolescents (OR = 0.81) than for adults (OR = 0.92). For the sample as a whole postnatal depression was associated with lower levels of education, reported fear during labor and living with partner. We also found that having a girl greatly increased the possibility of postnatal depression. We conclude that social support is a protective factor associated with postnatal depression, especially for adolescents.

Keywords::

• Postnatal depression
• adolescence
• social support

Declaration of interest: This research was made possible with funds from the International Psychoanalytic Association and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the International Association of Public Health Institutes.

Current knowledge on this subject

• Postnatal depression is the most prevalent mood disorder associated with childbirth and is present in women from nearly all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

• The problem is best understood under a multifactorial approach in which risk and protective factors accumulate to generate vulnerabilities which tend to be different in different populations.

What this study adds

• In this context it makes sense to explore whether there are particular risk and protective factors specific of adolescent mothers.

• This is one of the few studies investigating postnatal depression in Mexican women and the first exploring this problem in adolescent mothers.

• Our results identify general and population-specific factors associated to postnatal depression which might help the design of tailored intervention programs in Mexico.